9 children’s movies that were unexpectedly dark and painful

Charso Press: Pixar and Disney are good examples of studios that make attractive family films for all ages. Just look at works like “Ratatouille”, “Monster’s Inc” and “Toy Story” to get acquainted with the different levels of narratives that are not only childish but are quite deep. which involve adults as well. Also, in the popular “Shrek” franchise, adult humor is used along with colorful and animated images, and the creators managed to win the hearts of all age groups.

With all these explanations, if a movie is marketed for children, it should target a topic that is primarily appealing to children. In the list below, we mention films that in some parts completely forget that they were made for the audience of children and teenagers. In these works, there are dark and unexpected plot twists that have haunted the psyche of children of several generations for decades.

9- The endless storyThe NeverEnding Story)

• Release year: 1984
• Director: Wolfgang Petersen
• Actors: Noah Hathaway, Burt Oliver, Tommy Stronach, Moses Gunn, Thomas Hill
• Score IMDb the movie: 7.3 out of 10
• Rating of Rotten Tomatoes movie: 83 out of 100

Wolfgang Petersen’s fantasy film “The Neverending Story” has too many dark aspects for a children’s film. The story is about a 10-year-old book-loving boy named Bastian. He has a painful past and his mother’s death has had a great impact on his life and he cannot establish a constructive relationship with his father. After finding a book called “The Neverending Story”, Bastian is transported to a fantasy world and has the task of saving it from drowning in nothingness. In one part of the movie, a giant monster with a terrible appearance says a strange dialogue that defines the theme of the movie very well: “There will be no moments here. I will just sit here and let him take me with him.”

Although most of the sequences of “The Neverending Story” have some amount of darkness and depression in them, but if you have seen the movie, you will definitely remember one particular sequence that is extremely sad for young children and even for adults. ; Artax, the protagonist’s beloved horse, drowns in the “Swamp of Sorrow” while his young owner can’t do anything despite paddling and watches the gradual death of his dear friend.

8- Shir Shah (The Lion King)

• Release year: 1994
• Director: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
• voice actors: John Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Moira Kelly
• Score IMDb the movie: 8.5 out of 10
• Rating of Rotten Tomatoes movie: 93 out of 100

From any angle we want to look at the “Lion King” animation, we still come to the conclusion that the story of Simba is one of Disney’s masterpieces. The music, the characterization, the animation, and the story, which is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, are all superb. In addition to all these things, “Shirshah” also contains one of the saddest animated deaths, which is difficult for adults to digest, let alone young children.

The story is that the charismatic villain of the story, Oscar, plans to kill Mufasa, the king of the forest, and then executes it perfectly and cruelly, but the painful point for the audience is that Oscar is Mufasa’s brother. Worst of all, he blames his brother’s death on his young son Simba and makes him flee from his ancestral land for years.

This sequence not only showed an extremely brutal death to its mostly young audience, but probably left many children with unhealthy suspicion and fear towards their family members for a long time.

7- The hill of rabbitsWatership Down)

• Release year: 1978
• Director: Martin Rosen
• voice actors: John Hurt, Richard Briers, John Bennet, Ralph Richardson
• Score IMDb the movie: 7.6 out of 10
• Rating of Rotten Tomatoes movie: 79 out of 100

To be fair, it’s hard to even imagine how a wild story about a herd of rabbits leaving their home to find a safe place could be made for children. However, “Rabbit Hill” received a U certificate when it was released in the UK; That is, it was recognized as suitable for all age groups. The movie was very successful at the box office, which meant only one thing; Parents would safely take their children to the cinema to watch a full-scale animal-style bloodbath and be traumatized.

“Rabbit Hill” is based on the novel by Richard Adams, and after the release of the film, Adams’s work attracted the attention of many experts, and its underlying layers were carefully examined. In any case, whether the movie or the novel is an allegory of the Holocaust or a simple story about rabbits, as the Adams girls claim, they left an unforgettable impression on the minds of the children who watched it, which probably stayed with them for years.

6- Who sewed slippers for Roger Rabbit? (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)

• Release year: 1988
• Director: Robert Zemeckis, Richard Williams
• Actors: Bob Hoskins, Charlie Fleischer, Christopher Lloyd, Kathleen Turner
• Score IMDb the movie: 7.7 out of 10
• Rating of Rotten Tomatoes movie: 97 out of 100

“Who Made Roger Rabbit Clogs?” It’s undeniably funny, clever, and silly at the same time. The story of this noir film, which takes place simultaneously in the real world and animation, follows the story of a detective who must arrest a person named Roger Rabbit.

The film contains unique comedy sequences that will keep children happy. Popular cartoon characters such as Daffy, Donald Duck, Bugs and Mickey Mouse are also present in the film, but in addition to all these children’s content, there are countless points that are exclusively for adults, including violence, alcohol and sexual scenes. Cited.

But one of the sequences in “Who Made Roger Rabbit Clogs?” In particular, it terrified many children; The character played by Christopher Lloyd goes under a giant roller and turns into a completely flat object, but the torture of the audience does not end there, he blows himself up and his eyes pop out, and then he turns into a cartoon character and into His evil actions continue. This sequence is indescribably creepy even decades later, and it gets even darker when you remember that the movie was originally made for children!

5- Hunchback of Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

• Release year: 1996
• Director: Gary Truesdale, Kirk Wis
• voice actors: Tom Hulse, Demi Moore, Anthony Jay, Kevin Kline
• Score IMDb the movie: 7 out of 10
• Rating of Rotten Tomatoes movie: 72 out of 100

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” is undoubtedly one of the most neglected works of Disney during the golden age of the Renaissance. However, it is an outstanding achievement for the studio. The film is inspired by one of Victor Hugo’s best works and follows the story of Casimodu, an ugly bellwoman who has a kind heart but is ostracized by society because of her bad looks. He tries to devote himself to the townspeople and their lives, but the sinister Lord Frollo hides him in the church bell.

This animated musical is one of the darkest Disney films to date, dealing with mature and disturbing themes such as genocide, lust, sin and even infanticide. The film opens with Frollo and his soldiers chasing Casemudo’s mother up the steps of Notre Dame, causing the poor terrified woman to fall down the stairs, fracture her skull, and die. He doesn’t stop there and decides to kill Casimodo because he thinks the woman child is a full-fledged devil, but he changes his mind and keeps her reluctantly.

Other dark concepts of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” include Frollo’s pathological lust for the beautiful Esmeralda. He even sings the song Hellfire about his pathological thoughts.

4- Bridge to Trabitia (Bridge to Terabithia)

• Release year: 2007
• Director: Gabor Sopo
• Actors: Josh Hutcherson, Annasophia Robb, Robert Patrick, Billy Madison
• Score IMDb the movie: 7.2 out of 10
• Rating of Rotten Tomatoes movie: 85 out of 100

“Bridge to Trabitia” is adapted from the children’s book of the same name by Catherine Peterson. Josh Hutcherson and Anasofia Robb play the roles of two 12-year-old neighbors who gradually become friends. To overcome the difficulties and problems of life, they imagine a tree house as a wonderful world where they can have a good time. With the passage of time, a deep and meaningful relationship develops between the heroes of the film, but there is a disturbing and sad sequence that affects the audience who had not read the book before; Leslie’s character slips while trying to cross a stream and dies after hitting her head on a rock.

Of course, the film considers a tool that shows children how they can deal with the grief of losing their loved ones, but in any case, this scene is extremely painful for young children. It is interesting to know that Patterson decides to write this story after his close friend was struck by lightning, which led to his death.

3- Coraline (Coraline)

• Release year: 2009
• Director: Henry Silic
• voice actors: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hagman, Keith David
• Score IMDb the movie: 7.7 out of 10
• Rating of Rotten Tomatoes movie: 90 out of 100

“Coraline” was marketed as a children’s movie from the very beginning, and of course everyone knew that it was not as gentle as an animation like “Frozen”, but no one expected it to be so dark and cause deep fears in young audiences. be old If “The Lion King” taught children to fear their uncles or siblings, “Coraline” taught them that their parents can be terrifying creatures.

This beautiful yet terrifying stop-motion film follows a girl who encounters a strange version of her parents in another world. These seemingly familiar creatures are very friendly at first, but gradually they decide to kill Coraline and all these scary events happen while they look exactly like the parents who raised her.

2- Pinocchio (Pinocchio)

• Release year: 1940
• Director: Ben Sharpstein, Hamilton Lusk
• voice actors: Cliff Edwards, Dickie Jones, Christian Robb, Mel Blanc
• Score IMDb the movie: 7.5 out of 10
• Rating of Rotten Tomatoes movie: 100 out of 100

“Pinocchio” is one of the most popular Disney animations in the world. But looking back, we realize that the creators put their heart and soul into dealing with dark themes. The overall story is about a wooden doll who is brought to life by a kind fairy and tries to become a real boy, but nothing goes well for Pinocchio; Not only does his nose get long when he lies, but he goes from one disaster to another, from being kidnapped and smuggled to being eaten by a whale.

There are few happy sequences in Pinocchio. The scene where children turn into donkeys to be forced into slavery is a scene that cannot be erased from children’s minds so easily.

1- WitchesThe Witches)

• Release year: 1990
• Director: Nicolas Roeg
• Actors: Anjelica Huston, Mae Zetterling, Rowan Atkinson, Jane Herkes
• Score IMDb the movie: 6.8 out of 10
• Rating of Rotten Tomatoes movie: 93 out of 100

“Wizards” is adapted from a book of the same name written by Roald Dahl and seems to have been created exclusively to scare children. Of course, the story is fantastic, but it is still hard to digest that many of the film’s sequences scare children to death. Movie witches disguise themselves as normal people and target children. They trap a poor child in the painting to slowly age and die.

Your parents probably told you about the danger of strangers when you were a child, “witches” are the exact example of that danger, especially when they change shape and their true appearance is revealed. Thanks to Jim Henson and his excellent makeup, the witches with their deformed faces are enough to terrify any child.

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